Vancouver’s Pride Society sees drop in sponsors ahead of Pride Parade

The Vancouver Pride Society (VPS) says its annual Pride Parade will go ahead this year as planned, despite financial challenges.

The rising cost of public safety and security, along with high fees from the city, are straining its budget, the VPS says.

Meanwhile, sponsorship is down considerably. Morgane Oger, secretary of the board, said sponsors last year injected about $900,000 into the event.

This year, it has fallen to about $500,000.

“Vancouver Pride Society is a non-profit society that’s bound by the realities of business, like we have to have insurance, we have to have permits to operate, we have to rely on grants to run an event,” Oger said.

“If we are only able to land half as much money, we’ll have a budget that’s half as big, but if the city costs are not flexible in that, if they don’t go down along with our spend, then we just will find ourselves unable to do the work. “

Oger says it isn’t clear why sponsorships have dropped so sharply, but it could be due to a number of factors.

One possibility is the growing anti-DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) sentiment in the U.S., which could also be spreading to Canada, she says.

“There have been reports that U.S. government contractors are under pressure not to be involved with equity-related activities or sponsoring,” she said.

“The problem we’re seeing is consistent with what the other Prides are seeing. We’ve got a hole. The hole could be partly related to the political environment in Canada and abroad, where some companies are more willing to drop sponsorship of Pride events because they’re Pride events.”

Another possibility is that businesses are just tightening their belts as a possible recession looms, she said.

“It could make sense that funding Pride events could be pulled just because of the priority of keeping the business together.”

The group says it has received a Fierté Canada Pride (FCP) Grant that will help cover rising expenses, but this doesn’t make up for the city’s lack of support.

The VPS says it plans to hold a series of roundtables, town halls, and open meetings beginning in the fall as a way to revitalize support for the organization by involving community members and other stakeholders.

The Vancouver Pride Parade takes place on Aug. 3. More than 150 participants will follow a new parade route this year, ending at the Davie Village Pride Festival.